MN Soccer Hug

Balanced Blake disposes of Austin, eyes first 1A title since 2008

By HEATHER RULE, Special to the Star Tribune, 10/30/18, 11:00PM CDT

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The top-seeded Bears jumped out to two-goal lead in the first half en route to a 3-1 victory.

Blake's Will Mortenson celebrates after scoring the Bears' second goal in the first half against Austin in the Class 1A semifinal on Tuesday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Photo: Richard Tsong-Taatarii * Richard.Tsong-Taatarii@startribune.com

Blake got goals from three players en route to a 3-1 victory over Austin on Tuesday in the Class 1A semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. That’s not a surprising stat, considering every player on Blake’s roster has scored a goal this season.

That’s not the only strength, however.

“One of the strengths of our team that gets overlooked is our defense, because we score a lot of goals,” Blake coach Tamba Jonson said. “Defensively, we don’t really give up a lot of good, clean chances.”

Blake (18-1-2), the No. 1 seed, led 2-0 at halftime with goals from senior Luke Melin and junior Will Mortenson. Senior Jake Lundberg drove down and passed the ball to Mortenson, who found an opening.

Photo gallery: Class 1A semifinals

“Jake (Lundberg) did all the work on that one,” said Mortenson, whose second goal of the tournament came with 7 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first half.

The Packers (16-3-0), the No. 4 seed, made it 2-1 about three minutes into the second half with a goal from sophomore Henry Tolbert. But Blake sophomore Keegan James got the two-goal lead back with a penalty kick in the 51st minute.

“Once we were down by two, that second time, we knew that we needed to get some more guys uptop,” Austin coach Jens Levisen said. “We couldn’t quite get that next one to fall.”

In their fifth trip to state, the Bears will try for their first state title since they won in 2008. Blake defeated last year’s Class 1A champion, Totino-Grace, in the Section 5 final.

First report

Blake got goals from three players en route to a 3-1 victory over No. 4-seeded Austin on Tuesday in the Class 1A semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. That’s not a surprising stat, considering every player on Blake’s roster has scored a goal this season.

Blake led 2-0 at halftime with goals from senior Luke Melin and junior Will Mortenson.

On the second goal, defenders focused on senior Jake Lundberg who passed the ball over to Mortenson who was left all alone headed to the front of the net. His shot got past the goalkeeper from close range with 7 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first half. It was Mortenson’s second goal of the tournament.

The Packers (16-3-0) scored about three minutes into the second half on a goal from sophomore Henry Tolbert from right in front of the net.

Sophomore Keegan James re-asserted Blake's two-goal cushion in the 51st minute with a successful penalty kick.

In their fifth state tournament appearance, the Bears (18-1-2) will try for their first state title since they won in 2008. Blake defeated last year’s Class 1A champion, Totino-Grace, in the Section 5 final.